Matt Canavan on his love of EVs, and calling out Pauline Hanson

The new leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, is a former Marxist from the suburbs who was once a Productivity Commission economist and then, a firebrand right-wing senator. Canavan joins Inside Politics today with chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal at a time when the Nationals are battlin…

Peter Hartcher: Donald Trump is now a ‘genocidal tyrant’

US President Donald Trump has backed down, at the eleventh hour, from his horrifying threat to - as Trump put it himself - unleash destruction on Iran’s entire civilisation.  Both sides have now said they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, which includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Today, i…

Nick McKenzie on the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith

The Australian Federal Police today arrested war hero Ben Roberts-Smith over the war-crimes murders of five unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners during the Afghan War. The arrest comes after a quiet, five-year-long investigation into Roberts-Smith, which reportedly involved tapped phones, listeni…

The court judgment that could change the treatment of Australian women giving birth

There was a significant judgment in a Victorian court last week, one that is causing a great deal of controversy in the medical community. The case centres on what happened when a woman presented to a regional hospital to give birth. The woman, Larissa Gawthrop, was in labour – but the hospital re…

An Australian study linked vaping to cancer for the first time. Why all the backlash?

Many of us probably have a hunch that vaping is bad for our health. Questions about just how bad have been around for years. So why, then, has there been a backlash by health researchers against a new study, that has now declared that the evidence is in, and e-cigarettes are likely to cause oral …

A national address, nailing down the budget, and Hastie’s ‘striking’ interview

This week we debate the merits of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s national address before getting stuck into what’s happening with the budget. With the world in a bit of a shambles, we found it interesting that the PM hasn’t totally killed off the idea of reforms in the budget to things such as c…

Peter Hartcher: Donald Trump is on the cusp of walking away from Iran

US President Donald Trump says he’s nearly done with the war in Iran, declaring: "We will be leaving very soon." His secretary of state also said on Wednesday that he can "see the finish line". This would be significant, but only if the Americans were in control of the war. Today, international a…

Nick McKenzie on how North Korean spies are infiltrating Australian companies

Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie logged on to a Zoom call to meet the man who said he was Aaron Pierson. McKenzie was also hiding his real identity, posing as a recruiter for an Australian tech company. The whole thing was a set-up, a trap for someone McKenzie suspected to be a spy for North K…

Albanese has a petrol plan. Will it help, or boost inflation?

The government has finally announced its national fuel security plan to help us cope with one of the worst global oil crisis the world has seen. After meeting with the heads of all states and territories in a special meeting of the national cabinet, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the governm…

The dramatic end to the hunt for Dezi Freeman

In a sudden conclusion to one of Australia’s most intensive manhunts, self-described sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman was shot dead by police on Monday morning. For more than 200 days, Freeman evaded police after killing two police officers at a rural property in Porepunkah, in Victoria’s High Count…